SPEECH 


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to 


Jri 


oo/rj 


OF 


✓ 


SSISSIPPJ 


% 


ON  Til  H 


BILL  LIMITING  AND ,  DESIGNATING  THE  FUNDS 


KECEIVABLE 


FOR  THE  REVENUES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Delivers  1  in  the  Senate  of  tie  U.  S.  Jan.  28,  ISSr. 


WASHINGTON: 

PiUN"!  ED  AT  THE  GLOBE  OFFICE. 

1837. 


/ 


SPEECH. 


Mr.  WALKER  said,  before  replying  to  the  in¬ 
dictment  preferred  by  the  honorable  Senator  from 
Missouri,  (Mr.  Benton,)  against  the  Committee  on 
Public  Lands,  it  is  proper  to  recur  to  the  facts  and 
circumstances  under  which  this  controversy  ori¬ 
ginated.  At  an  early  period  of  the  session,  the 
Senator  from  Ohio,  (Mr.  Ewing,)  introduced  a  reso¬ 
lution  to  rescind  the  Treasury  order.  This  resolu¬ 
tion  was  very  fully  discussed,  and  especially  by  the 
Senator  from  Missouri,  (Mr.  Benton,)  but  Mr.  W. 
had  taken  no  part  in  this  discussion. 

In  the  progress  of  thq  debate  upon  the  resolution 
of  the  Senator  from  Ohio,  a  substitute  was  offered, 
as  an  amendment,  by  the  Senator  from  Virginia, 
(Mr.  Rives.)  This  substitute  was  advocated  by 
that  Senator,  as  in  consonance  with  the  President’s 
recommendation,  to  render  the  legislation  of  Con¬ 
gress  in  the  collection  of  the  federal  revenue,  aux¬ 
iliary  to  the  suppression  of  all  notes  of  a  smaller 
denomination  than  twenty  dollars,  and  a  conse¬ 
quent  enlargement  of  the  circulation  of  gold  and 
silver.  The  Senator  from  Virginia  had  regarded 
the  Treasury  order  as  a  temporary  measure,  to 
meet  a  pressing  emergency,  and  as  having  in  a 
great  degree  performed  its  office. 

Mr.  W.  had  still  refrained  from  embarking  in 
the  discussion  upon  this  question.  Several  Sena¬ 
tors,  however,  had  expressed  their  opinions,  and 
great  difficulties  appeared  to  be  presented  against 
any  satisfactory  adjustment  of  this  question.  Un¬ 
der  these  c i re u instances*  several  Senators  now 
within  the  sound  of  his  voice,  had  proposed  to  him 
(Mr.  W.)  to  refer  both  resolutions  to  the  Commit¬ 
tee  on  Public  Lands.  To  this  reference,  Mr.  W. 
said,  he  had  at  first  objected,  upon  the  grounds  that 
the  Committee  on  Public  Lands  was  engaged  in 
the  laborious  examination,  of  another  question,  and 
that  the  subject  of  designating  the  funds  receivable 
for  the  public  dues,  belonged  more  appropriately 
to  the  Committee  on  Finance.  Upon  further  con¬ 
sultation,  however,  with  several  Senators  friendly 
to  the  administration,  Mr.  W.  had  at  length  reluc¬ 
tantly  assented  to  the  proposed  reference,  which 
was  accordingly  made  by  the  vote  of  the  Senate, 
including  that  of  the  Senator  from  Miss 
Benton.)  No  other  report  than  that 
made,  so  far  as  Mr.  W.  was  concerned, 
been  anticipated;  for  to  every  Senator  w| 

Mr.  W.  had  conversed,  l;e  had  expresse 
currence  in  the  provisions  substantially 
lution  of  the  Senator  from  Virginia,  (M| 
and  at  the  last  sossion,  when  th 
from  Missouri  (Mr.  Benton)  introduc 
lution  requiring  payments  of  the  pu 
in  gold  and  silver  only,  the  Sen 


well  recollect  that  he  (Mr.  W.)  had  then 
expressed  his  opposition  to  that  resolution,  and  so 
had  a  majority  of  the  Senators  now  composing  the 
Committee  on  Public  Lands.  When,  then,  the 
Senator  from  Missouri  voted  for  ibis  reference,  he 
could  not  justly  have  anticipate^  any  other  report 
than  that*  which  was  made  by  the  committee. 
When,  then,  did  the  Senalov  from  Missouri  vote 
for  this  reference,  and  then  denounce  the  commit¬ 
tee  for  making  the  only  report  which  he  could 
have  expected,  in  conformity  with  their  previously' 
avowed  opinions?  Mr.  W.  said  it  became  his  duty, 
as  chairman  of  this  committee,  and  as  their  organ, 
to  report  a  bill  containing  substantially  the  provi¬ 
sions  of  the  resolution  of  the  Senator  from  Vir¬ 
ginia.  Again  the  subject  had  been  discussed  in  the 
Senate,  but  Mr.  W.  had  not  participated  in  the 
debate,  and  the  bill,  by  a  large  majority,  was  or¬ 
dered  to  be  engrossed  for  a  ’third  reading ;  and 
now,  when  by  the  usual  rules  of  parliamentary  de¬ 
bate,  the  contest  might  well  be  considered  as  termi¬ 
nated,  the  Senator  from  Missouri,  (Mr.  Benton.) 
before  the  vote  on  the  final  passage,  had  made  a 
very  elaborate  argument  against  the  measure.  To 
all  this  Mr.  W.  would  make  no  objection  ; 
when  that  Senator,  having  exhausted  the  argurmy 
or  having  none  to  offer,  had  indulged  in  violej 
intemperate  denunciation  ‘  of  the  Comjj 
Public  Lands,  and  of  the  report  rnj 
as  their  organ,  Mr.  W.  could  not 
expression  of  his  surprise  and 
Mr.  W.  said  it  was’  his  good  loi 
npon  terms  of  the  kindest  personal 
with  every  Senator,  and  these  frien 
should  not  be  interrupted  by  an_v| 
upon  his  part.  And  now,  Mr.  W.  sj 
upon  the  whole  Senate  to  bear  witne 
sure  they  all  cheerfully  would,  that  iJ 
versy  he  was  not  the  aggressor,  and  I 
had  been  done  or  said  by  him  to  provol; 
of  the  Senator  from  Missouri,  unless' 
to  differ  from  him  in  opinion  upon  any  sul 
constituted  an  offence  in  the  mind  of  that  Sena 
If  such  were  the  views  of  that  gentleman,  if 


4 


fleeted  upon  this  subject,  be  wrulu  himself  see  '  predation  in  the  price  of  ail  property  and  all  pro 
nuch  to  regret  in  the  course  he  had  pursued  in  re-  ducts,  and  an  immediate  cessation  by  States  and  in- 


uoe* 


solicitous  to  preserve  unbroken  ik;  rank&of  Igraye  of  the  nation*'  prosp.  rity,  would  perhaps  re- 
:u  '  democratic  party  in  this  body,  participating  pose,  the  scattered  fra  aments  of  those  great  and 
v  an  the  pm  pie  in  grateful  recollection  of  the  dir-  -'glorious  -  institutions  which  give  happiness  to  mil- 


imgujsned  services 
Missouri  to  ft- 

h 


;red  bv 


iae  Senator  from.  ’• 


ne. 


ippine 

and  hones  to  millions  more  of  disen- 


;e  democracy  of  the  Union,  be  would  thralmcm  from  despotic  power.  Sir.  in  resistance 
pass  by -many  of  the  remarks  made  by  that  Senator  t0  the  power  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  in 

:  opposition  to  l:»e  re-establishment  of  any  "similar  in- 
•h.cir,  ai  <1  V-  .  st.tu.ion,  the  Senator  from  Missouri  would  find  Mr. 


on  this  subject. 

[Mr.  Run ton  here  arose  from  1 


manfied, 


much  warmth,  that  ?.i-r.  'Walker.  W .  with  him;  but  he  could  not  enlist  as  a  recruit  in. 


we  -  ‘  not  pass  by  one  of  them.  Mr.  W.  ashed,  i  this  new  crusade  against  the  banks  of  his  own,*  and 
Anatolic'?  ivir.  £. ’erfiM.  in  an  a:  rry  tone,  Mot ,  every  ether.  State,  in  the  Union.  These  institutions, 
<  :ifn  sT.  Then  Mr.  said  he  -.  T-uld  examine  {whether  for  road  or  evil,  are  created  by  the  States, 


litem  all,  and. 
he  would  end 


j  71  *  ■>  s  : 

:  i.1  t.  . 


>t  c:  pei;. 


freedom. 


that. 


if  the 

J  l. 


•at  cherished  and  sustained  by  them,  in  many  cases 
vor  to  return  1?  w  for  blow,  and  '  owned  i-\  whole  or  in  part  by  the  States,  and 
orator  from  Missouri  desired,  as  it';  closely  united  with  their  prosperity;  and  what  right 


appeased  he  did,  an  -angry  controversy  with  him,  have  we  to  destroy  them?  What  right  had  he,  an 
in  a  ’  its  consequences  in  and  out  of  ibis  House,  he  i  humble  servant  of  the  people  of  Mississippi,  to  say 

-  to  his  own,  or  any  other  State,  your  State  legisla¬ 
tion  :■  from  bon  is  wrong — your  State  institutions,  your  State 


could  bo  gratified  1 


(said  Mr.  Wd  vf 


Missouri  ass;  iled  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  !  banks,  must  be  annihilated,  and  we  will  legislate 
and  Hmseif,  as  its  humble  organ?  He  was  not  thei  *-ere  to  effect  this  object?  ’Are  we  the  masters  or 
author  of  this  measure,  so  much  denounced  by  the';  servants  of  the  sovereign  States,  that  Are  dare  speak 
Senator  ironi  .Missouri,  not  had  he  said  one  word  : 10  them  in  language  like  this — that  we  dare  attempt 
upon  the  subject.  The  measure  originated  with.10  prostrate  here  those  institutions  which  are  crea- 
tho  senator  from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Rives.)  He  was  !  f?d  and  maintained  by  those  very  States  Avhich  we 
;be  author  of  the  measure,  and  had  been  and  still  j  represent  on  this  floor?  These  may  be  the  opinions 
was,  its  able,  zealous,  and  successful  advocate,  j  entertained  by  some  Senators  of  their  duty  to  the 
W  fiv.  then,  had  the  Senator  from  Missouri  assailed  i  Slates  they  represent,  but  they  were  not  his  (Mr. 
mm,  (Mr.  TV.)  and  permitted  the  author  of  the  |  W’s)  views  or  his  opinions.  Ho  was  sincerely  de- 
m ensure  to  escape  unpunished?  Sir,  are  the  ar-  sirous  to  co-operate  with  his-  State  in  limiting  any 
rows  which  appear  to  be  aimed  bv  the  Senator  1  dangerous  powers  of  the  banks,  in  enlarging  the 
item  Missouri  at  the  humble  organ  of  the  Commit-  j  circulation  of  gold  ar.d  silver,  and*  in  suppressing 
on  Public  Lands,  who  reported  this  bill,  in- j  the  small  note  currency,  so  as  to  avoid  that  explo- 
1  to  inflict  a  wound  in  another  quarter?  Is  sion  which  was  to  be  apprehended  from  excessive 
r  the  apparent  object  of  assault.  Avhen  issues  of  bank  paper.  But  a  total  annihilation  of 
resigned  as  the  real  victim?  Sir  when  i  dl  the  banks  of  his  own  State,  now  possessing  a 
■from  Missouri,  without  any  provoca-  chartered  capital  of  near  forty  millions  of  dollars, 
■thunderbolt  from  an  unclouded  sky  would,  Mr.  W.  kne\v,  produce  almost  universal 
[the  Senate  in  a  perfect  tempest  of  bankruptcy,  and  was  not,  he  believed,  anticipated 
ry,  bursting  upon  his  poor  head  like  a  by  any  one  of  his  constituents. 

|do,  die.  he  intend  to  saa  eep  beiore  the  But  the  Senator  from  Missouri  tells  us,  that  this 

measure  of  the  committee  is  a  repeal  of  the  Con¬ 
stitution,  by  authorizing  the  receipt  of  paper  money 
in  revenue  payments.  If  so,  then  the  Constitution 
never  has  had  an  existence;  for  the  period  cannot 
be  designated  when  paper  money  was  not  so  re¬ 
ceivable  by  the  Federal  Government.  This  species 
of  mono)'  was  expressly  made  receivable  for  the 
public  dues  by  an  act  of  Congress,  passed  imme¬ 
diately  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and 
which  remained  in  force  until  eighteen  hundred  and 
was  so  received,  as  a  matter  of  practice, 
en  hundred  and  eleven  until  eighteen 
d  sixteen,  Avhen  again,  by  an  act  of  Con- 
assed,  and  Avhich  lias  just  expired,  it 
uthorized  to  be  received  during  all  that 
low,  although  these  acts  have  expired, 

|t  Avhicli  is  equivalent  to  a  laAv  still  in 
ssly  authorizing  the  notes  ol  the  specie 
is  of  the  States  to  be  received  in  revenue 
It  is  the  joint  resolution  of  eighteen 
d  sixteen,  adopted  by  both  Houses  of 


m  another  individual  more  obnoxious 
? 

Mr.  W.)  the  Senator  from  Missouri 
jpealed  the  prayer,  “  God  save  the 
the  Committee  on  Public  Lands;” 
fully  believed  that  it  the  prayer  of  the 
wold  lie  heard  within  these  Avails,  it  would 
rod  save  us  from  the  wild,  visionary,  ruinous, 
impracticable  schemes  of  the  Senator  of  Mis¬ 
hin  ri.  for  exclusive  "old  and  silver  rnrrpnr»v  *nr! 


5 


Congress,  and  approved  by  President  Madison,  j  lions  in  regard  to  such  notes,  to  veil:  from  and  after 
That  joint  resolution  is  in  these,  words:  'the  passage  of  this  act,  the  notes  of  no  bank  which 

“That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be,  and  he  j  shall  issuer  circulate  bills  or  notes  of  a  less  cle- 
hcreby  is,  required  and  directed  to  adopt  such  mea-  j  nominntic^tban  fiv-v  dollars,  shall  be  received  on 
sures  as  he  may  deem  necessary,  to  cause,  as  soon  j  account  of  the  public  dues;  and  from  and  after 
as  may  be,  all  duties,  taxes,  debts,  or  suites  of  mo- ;  the  thirtieth  day  of  December,  eighteen  hundred 
ney,  accruing  or  becoming  payable  to  the  United !  and  thirty-nine,  the  notes  of  no  bank  which  shall 
States,  to  be  collected  .and  paid  in  the  legal  cur- !  issue  or  circulate  bills  or  notes  of  a  less  denomina- 
rency  of  the  United  States,  or  Treasury  notes,  orjtion  than  ten  dollars,  shall  be  so  receivable;  and 
notes  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  as  by  law  j  from  and  after  the  thirtieth  day  of  December,  one 
provided  and  declared,  or  in  notes  of  banks  which  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-one,  trie  like  pro- 
are  payable  and  paid  on  demand,  in  the  said  legal ;  hibition  shall  bs  extended  to  the  notes  of  ail  banks 
currency  of  the  United  Stales;  and  that,  from  and  i  issuing  bills  or  notes  of  a  less  denomination  than 
after  the  2Clh  day  of  February  next,  no  such  duties,  twenty  dollars. 

taxes,  debts,  or  sums  of  money,  accruing  or  becom-  “Sec.  2.  And  be  U  farther  enacted ,  That  no  notes 
mg  payable  to  the  United  States  as  aforesaid,  ought  shall  be  received  by  the  collectors  or  receivers  of 
to  be  collected  or  received  otherwise  than  in  the  the  public  money,  which  the  banks  in  which  they 
legal  currency  of  the  Unite  !  States,  or  Treasury  are  to  be  deposited  shall  not,  under  the  supervision 
notes,  or  notes  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  or  i  and  control  of  the  Secretary  of-the  Treasury,  agree 
in  notes  of  banks  which  are  payable,  and  paid  on  j  to  pass  to  the  credit  of  the- United  Stairs  as  cash: 
demand,  in  the  said  legal  currency  of  the  United  j  Provided,  That,  if  any  deposile  bank  shall  refuse 
States.”  i  to  receive  and  pass  to  the  credit  of  the  United 

Commenting  upon  this  resolution,  the  Senator  !  Stales  as  cash,  any  notes  receivable  under  the  pro- 


from  Missouri  in  his  speech  of  December  last  de¬ 
clared: 

“This  is  the  law,  continued  Mr.  Benton,  and  no¬ 
thing  can  be  plainer  than  the  right  of  selection 
which  it  gives  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.” 

“The  words  of  the  law  are  clear;  the  practice 
under  it  has  been  uniform  and  uninterrupted  from 
the  date  of  its  passage  to  the  present  day.  For 
twenty  years,  and  under  three  Presidents,  all  the 


visions  of  this  act,  which  said  bank  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  business  receives  on  general  deposite,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  hereby  authorized  to 
withdraw  the  public  deposites  from  said  bank.” 

Now  the  principal  difference  between  the  provi¬ 
sions  of  this  bill  and  the  joint  resolution  of  1816, 
consists  in  the  exclusion  by  the  bill  of  notes  of 
small  denominations  from  revenue  payments.  Yet 
the  Senator  from  Missouri  would  leave  the  resol u- 


Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  have  acted  alike,  lion  of  1816  in  full  force,  unrepealed,  unmodified, 


Each  has  made;  selections,  permitting  the  notes  of 
some  specie  paying  banks  to  be  received,  and  for¬ 
bidding  others.” 

Here  this  joint  resolution  is  admitted  by  the  Se¬ 
nator  from  Missouri  to  be  ut!ie  lew:,'1'1  and  that  the 
practice  under  it  has  been  uniform  to  receive  the 
notes  of  specie  paying  banks.  If  then  to  authorize 
the  reception  of  the  notes  of  specie  paying  banks  in 
payment  of  the  public  dues,  be  a  violation  of  the 
Constitution,  it  is  obvious,  that  the  Constitution 
never  has  had  any  existence,  except  in  the  golden 
visions  of  the  honorable  Senator  from  Missouri. 
Sir  what  more  is  done  by  the  bill  reported  from  the 


and  ",  et  objects  to  the  measure  now  before  us. 
The  Senator  from  Missouri  would  have  remain  in 
force,  a  resolution  of  Congress,  by  which  the  Secre¬ 
tary  of  the  Treasury  may  at  his  discretion  receive 
for  the  public  dues  bank  notes,  even  of  one  dollar, 
ie  objects  to  a  measure  by  which  that  dis¬ 


and  vet 


cretion  is  limited  to  the  receipt  of  notes  of  higher 
denominations.  By  the  resolution,  as  it  stands, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may  collect  the 
whole  public  revenue  in  bank  paper;  by  the  bill, 
as  proposed,  a  portion  cf  the  public  dues  must  be 
collected  in  gold  and  silver;  and  yet  the,  Senator 
from  Missouri,  objects,  and  denounces  the  measure 
Committee  on  Public  Lands,  and  now  ordered  to  j  as  a  repeal  of  the  Constitution,  by  authorizing  the 
be  engrossed  by  the  Senate,  than  had  been  already  j  payment  of  the  public  dues  in  bank  paper,  as  if  it 
accomplished  by  the  joint  resolution  of  eighteen  j  were  not  authorized  already  by  the  joint  resolution 

of  1816,  which,  as  regards  the  customs,  is  untouch- 


hundred  and  sixteen?  This  bill  as  thus  engrossed. is 
as  follows: 

“AN  ACT  designating  and  limiting  the  funds  re¬ 
ceivable  for  the  revenues  of  the  United  States. 

“  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represen¬ 
tatives  of  the  United  Stales  of  America  in  Congress 
assembled.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 


ed  even  by  the  Treasury  order.  Strange  inconsis¬ 
tency!  singular  delusion!  But  has  it  come  to  this, 
that  Congreife  has  surrendered  an  unlimited  discre¬ 
tion,  as  regards  the  funds  receivable  for  the  public 
dues,  into  the  hands  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea¬ 
sury,  and  must' not  now  interfere?  That,  in  the 
be,  and  hereby  is,  required  to  adopt  such  |  opiiijon  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri,  it  is  all  right 
measures  as  he  may  deem  necessary,  to  ef-  •  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  should  possess 
feet  a  collection  of  the  public  revenue  of  the  j  the  discretionary  power  of  receiving  or  rejectin'-. 
United  States,  whether  arising  from  duties,  taxes,  1  bank  paper  in  payment  of  the  public  dues;  of  dis- 
debts,  or  sales  of  lands,  in  the  manner  and  j  criminating  between  different  individuals  and  ub  - 
on  the  principles  herein  provided:  that  is,  that  no  !  ferent  branches  cf  the  public  revenue;  of  puttm  , 
such  duties,  taxes,  debts,  or  sums  of  money  pay  a-  up  and  putting  down,  bank  paper  at  his  pit-asm  e, 
blc ior  lands,  shall  be  collected  or  received  other-  j  but  that  for,  Congress  to  interpose  and  de  fine  or 
wise  than  in  the  legal  currency  of  the  United  States,  j  limit  that  discretion  is  a  violation  of  the.  Constitut¬ 
or  in  notes  of  banks  which  are  payable  and  paid  .  tion.  That  for  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
on  demand  in  the  said  legal  currency  of  the  United  regulate  the  currency  at  his  pleasure,  and  put  up 
States,  under  the  following  restrictions  and  condi-  and  put  down  State  banks  and  their  paper,  is  all 


4 


6 


right;  but  .that  for  Congress  to  limit  and  define  his 
power  in  these,  respects,  is  unconstitutional.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  then,  must  be  above 
"Congress,  and  above  the  Constitution, ‘•possessing 
an  omnipotent,  unchangeable,  irreversible  power  on 
this  subject.  Is  not  the  Senate  astounded  by  the 
avowal  and  advocacy  of  such  doctrines  upon  this 
floor — doctrines  worthy  of  the  Polignacs  of  France, 
and  of  the  Stuarts  of  England,  but  wholly  incom¬ 
patible  with  the  genius  of  our  institutions,  and  di¬ 
rectly  contradictory,  as  shall  be  shown  hereafter,  to 
ihe  opinions  upon  this  subject  of  cur  patriot  Presi¬ 
dent.  Are  the  American  people  prepared  to  sustain 
these  doctrines — -doctrines  which  are  essentially  mon¬ 
archical,  which  take  from  Congress  all  power  over 
this  subject;  which  deny  their  authority,  the  authority 
ofthe  representatives  of  the  people  and  of  the  States, 
and  erect  the  Secretary  of  ihe  Treasury  into  a  dicta¬ 
tor,  whose  mandates  we  may  not  control  or  alter? 
Sir,  if  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may  thus  abo¬ 
lish  our  power  on  this  subject,  and  render  it  uncon¬ 
stitutional  for  us  to  interfere  with  his  orders,  why 
may  not  every  other  Secretary  of  every  other  De¬ 
partment  claim  similar  power  and  the  same  exemp¬ 
tion  from  our  control?  Such  doctrines  are  the  very 
essence  of  despotism,  and  now  for  the  first  time  have 
they  been  openly  avowed  upon  this  floor,  and  in 
this  country.  Tell  me  not  then  that  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  may  receive  or  reject  bank  paper 
at  his  pleasure;  may  receive  it,  as  he  now  does,  for 
customs,  and  reject  it  in  payment  for  the  public 
lands,  and  that  it  is  unconstitutional  for  Congress 
to  regulate,  define,  and  limit,  that  discretion.  Stand¬ 
ing  upon  the  broad  basis  of  the  Constitution,  he 
would  resist  such  doctrines,  for  they  can  only  be 
maintained  by  a  total  overthrow  of  free  govern¬ 
ment,  and  the  establishment  of  arbitrary  and  des¬ 
potic  power. 

But  the  Senator  from  Missouri  tells  us,  that  he 
objects  to  the  bill  of  the  committee  as  an  act  of  Con¬ 
gress ,  when  it  should  have  been  a  resolution.  Sir, 
docs  that  Senator  contend  that  in  directions  given 
by  Congress  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  as  re¬ 
gards  the  funds  receivable  for  the  public  dues,  there 
is  any  distinction  between  a  be  it  enacted ,  and  a 
be  it  resolved ,  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States? 
The  Constitution  prescribes  no  such-  form,  and  re¬ 
cognises  no  such  distinction.  It  requires  joint  reso¬ 
lutions,  except  for  adjournment,  as  well  as  laws, 
to  be  approved  bv  the  President,  and  when  this  is 
done  they  have  the  same  obligatory  energv  in  limit¬ 
ing  and  directing  the  acts  of  our  public  agents. 
Sir,  when  the  Senator  from  Missouri  urged  this 
new  objection  he  seemed  to  have  forgotten  his 
speech  of  December  last,  in  which,  when  comment¬ 
ing  upon  the  joint  resolution  of  1816,  he  declared, 
“this  is  the  law;”  but  now  that  Senator  would 
have  us  believe  that  a  joint  resolution  is  not  equiva¬ 
lent  to  law  of  Congress.  But  if  there  be  this  dis¬ 
tinction  between  a  Jaw  and  a  joint  resolution,  in 
support  of  this  p’rea  of  abatement,  upon  which  the 
Senator  from  Missouri  now  relies, it  shall  be  shown, 
before  the  close  of  this  address,  that  the  Senator 
from  Missouri  has  himself,  within  the  last  twelve 
months,  proposed  laws,  and  amendments  to  laws, 
expressly  authorizing  the  receipt  of  bank  paper  in 
payment  of  the  public  dues,  and  consequently,  if 
his  own  argument  be  true,  has  proposed  a  repeal 


of  the  Constitution.  Before,  however,  proceedirg 
to  this  branch  of  the  subject,  let  me  ask,  if  the  re¬ 
ception  of  bank  paper  in  payment  of  the  public 
dues  be  a  violation  of  the  Constitution,  then  not 
only  have  Congress,  but  this  administration,  and 
every  one  that  preceeded  it,  uniformly  violated  the 
Constitution.  Down  to  the  period  of  the  Treasury 
order  of  July  last,  this  administration  has  con¬ 
stantly  received  bank  *paPer  in  payment  of  the 
federal  revenue,  and  is  still  receiving  it,  even 
under  the  Treasury  order,  in  payment  of  customs. 
The  argument  then  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri, 
is  a  bitter  denunciation  of  the  whole  course  of  the 
President  on  this  subject  preceding  the  Treasury 
'order,  and  it  is  also  a  denunciation  of  the  principles 
of  that  order,  ^o  far  as  it  does  not  exclude  bank 
paper  in  payment  of  customs.  The  administration 
is  now  receiving  bank  paper  in  payment  of  cus¬ 
toms,  and  no  change  on  this  subject  is  proposed  by 
the  President;  and  yet  the  Senator  from  Missouri 
tells  us,  that  for  Congress  to  authorize  the  recep¬ 
tion  of  bank  paper,  in  payment  of  the  public  dues, 
is  to  repeal  the  Constitution.  Here  is  conclusive 
evidence,  that  the  Senator  from  Missouri  goes  far 
beyond  the  views  of  the  President  upon  this  sub¬ 
ject.  But  the  Senator  from  Missouri  objects  to 
the  proviso  of  the  bill  introduced  by  the  Commit¬ 
tee  on  Public  Lands,  authorizing  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  to  withdraw  the  deposites  from  any 
bank  which  refuses  to  pass  to  the  credit  of  the 
United  States  as  cash,  the  notes  of  such  specie  pay¬ 
ing  banks,  receivable  under  this  bill,  as  the  bank 
receives  on  general  deposite.  This  provisio  is  a 
wholesome  restriction  upon  the  abuse  of  power  by 
the  deposite  banks.  It  will  curtail,  and  was  in¬ 
tended  to  curtail,  the  power  of  the  deposite  banks. 
It  will  arrest  an  odious  monopoly,  by  pre¬ 
venting  the  deposite  banks  from  making  their 
notes  the  only  paper  receivable  lor  the  pub¬ 
lic  dues,  thus  rendering,  for  ail  practical  pur¬ 
poses,  the  paper  of  these  banks  the  only  curren¬ 
cy  of  the  Federal  Government,  to  the  manifest  in¬ 
convenience  of  the  people,  and  the  severe  oppres¬ 
sion  of  other  State  banks  equally  as  solvent  as 
these  institutions.  It  will  prevent  an  oligarchy  of 
deposite  banks  from  controlling  the  currency,  and. 
exercising  a  power  over  the  prosperity  ol  the  coun¬ 
try  quite  as  despotic  as  that  possessed  by  the  Bank 
of  the  United  Stales.  If  we  reject  this  proviso,  we 
shall  only  have  disenthralled  the  American  people 
from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  one  master,  to 
substitute  eighty  masters,  a  combination  ol  which, 
uncontrolled  by  this  proviso,  might  hold  in  their 
power  the  prosperity  of  this  nation.  This  same 
power  was  confided,  in  relation  to  the  removal  of 
the  deposites,  to  the  Secretary  ot  the  Treasury,  as 
regards  the  Eank  of  the  United  States,  and  the  ex¬ 
istence,  as  well  as  the  exercise,  ol  this  power  by 
that  officer,  was  deemed,  by  the  Senator  irom  Mis¬ 
souri.  most  wise  and  salutary.  Yet  the  Senator 
from  Missouri  now  objects  to  this  power,  and  says 
he  would  not  entrust  it  even  to  the  administration 
of  the  President,  or  of  his  successor.  Indeed.'  The 
Senator  from  Missouri  would  not  confide  to  the  Se¬ 
cretary  of  the  Treasury  the  necessary  power  to 
remove  the  public  moneys  from  any*  deposite 
bank,  thus  abusing  its  authority,  and  oppressing 
the  people  in  the  contingency  referred  to  in  the 


i 


proviso,  and  yet  he  would  permit  the  joint 
resolution  of  1816  to  remain  unrepealed  and 
unmodified,  by  which  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea¬ 
sury  might  at  his  discretion  regulate  the  whole 
currency  of  the  country,  receive  or  reject  bank 
paper  at  his  option,  change  and  rechange  his  or¬ 
ders  upon  this  subject,  introduce  or  exclude  the 
currency  of  gold  and  silver,  and  exercise  over  this 
whole  subject  powers  unregulated  and  uncontrolled. 
Sir,  the  Senator  from  Missouri  stops  at  the  mole¬ 
hill  of  this  proviso,  whilst  he  surmounts  the  moun¬ 
tain  which  rises  to  our  view,  upon  a  survey  of  the 
enormous  powers  which  that  Senator  would  en¬ 
trust,  without*  any  regulation,  into  the  hands  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Mr.  W.  said  he  would  now  proeeed  to  prove 
that  the  Senator  from  Missouri  had  himself  origi¬ 
nally  proposed  something  similar  to  the  provisions 
of  the  bill  which  he  now  denounces  as  a  violation 
of  the  Constitution;  and  especially  that  he  had  di¬ 
rectly  proposed,  by  resolution  as  well  as  laws,  to 
authorize  the  receipt  of  bank  paper  in  payment  of 
the  public  dues ;  and,  until  very  recently,  limited 
himself  to  the  exclusion  of  notes  under  twenty 
dollars,  as  proposed  by  the  bill  of  the  committee. 
And  first,  Mr.  W.  read  from  the  journals  of  the 
Sanate,  under  date  of  the  9th  April,  1834,  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

“The  following  motion,  submitted  by  Mr.  Ben¬ 
ton,  was  considered: 

“ Resolved ,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  on  the 
part  of  the  Senate,  jointly  with  such  committeee  as 
may  be  appointed  on  the  part  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  to  consider  and  report  to  the 
Senate  and  to  the  House  respectively,  what  altera¬ 
tions,  if  any,  are  necessary  to  be  made  *  *  *  *** 

3.  In  the  joint  resolution  of  1816  (for  the  better 
collection  of  the  revenue;)  so  as  to  exclude  all 
bank  notes  under  twenty  dollars  from  Revenue 
payments  after  a  given  period,  and  to  make  the 
revenue  system  of  the  United  States  instrumental 
in  the  gradual  suppression  of  the  small  note  circu¬ 
lation,  and  the  introduction  of  gold  and  silver  for 
the  common  currency  of  the  country.” 

Here  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  Senator  from 
Missouri  then  considered  the  joint  resolution  of 
1816  as  requiring  alterations  by  Congress,  so  as  “to 
exclude  all  bank  notes  under  twenty  dollars  from 
revenue  payments  after  a  given  period.”  Here 
then  was, a  direct  proposition,  by  that  Senator,  to  do 
precisely  what  is  done  by  the  bill  of  the  committee, 
as  regards  the  exclusion  from  revenue  payments 
of  notes  only  “under  twenty  dollars.”  Why  then 
does  the  Senator  now  denounce  what  was  then  his 
own  project  as  a  repeal  of  the  Constitution? 

His  project  then  was,  not  as  it  now  is,  to  exclude 
all  but  gold  and  silver  from  revenue  payments,  and 
cut  loose  the  Federal  Government  from  the  paper 
system,  but  the  very  reverse,  namely — to  authorize 
banknotes  not  under  twenty  dollars  to  be  received 
in  revenue  payments.  And,  how  received?  Why, 
by  regulations  then  proposed  by  him,  to  be  made 
by  Congress — by  alterations  of  the  joint  resolution 
of  1816.  The  honorable  Senator  then  also  pro¬ 
posed  to  make  “  the  revenue  system  of  the  United 
States  instrumental  in  the  gradual  suppression  of 
the  small  note  circulation,  and  the  introduction  of 
gold  and  silver  for  the  common  currency  of  the 


country.”  The  terms  common  currency ,  as  distin¬ 
guished  from  exclusive  currency ,  are  italicised  in  the 
resolution  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri,  and  the 
suppression  confined  to  “the  small  note,  circula¬ 
tion.”  This  suppression  of  “the  small  note  circu¬ 
lation,”  of  notes  under  twenty  dollars,  was  to  be 
effected  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  revenue  sys¬ 
tem  of  the  United  States.  Now  is  not  all  this  pre¬ 
cisely  what  is  proposed  in  the  bill  of  the  commit¬ 
tee?  and  are  not  that  bill,  and  this  resolution  of  the 
honorable  Senator,  substantially  the  same?  Since 
this  period,  a  great  revolution  appears  to  have 
taken  place  in  the  opinion  of  the  honorable  Sena¬ 
tor,  both  as  regards  questions  relating  to  the  cur¬ 
rency  and  to  constitutional  law.  Then,  that  Sena¬ 
tor  was*  satisfied  to  encourage  the  circulation  of 
banknotes  not  under  twenty  dollars,  and  to  receive 
them  in  revenue  payments.  Now,  nothing  will 
answer  his  purpose  but  gold  and  silver;  and,  to 
authorize  any  thing  else  to  be  received  in  revenue 
payments,  is  denounced  as  a  repeal  of  the  Constitu¬ 
tion!  If  this  doctrine  be  true,  then  the  Senator 
from  Missouri  stands  upon  the  Senate  journals 
self-convicted  of  an  attempt  to  repeal  the  Consti¬ 
tution. 

But  the  Senator  from  Missouri  has  embodied  the 
twenty  dollar  principle  as  connected  with  the  fede¬ 
ral  revenue,  in  an  act  of  Congress ,  not  a  resolution- 

Mr.  W.  here  read  from  the  journals  of  the  Senate, 
under  date  of  the  6th  of  April,  1836,  as  follows: 

“  The  Senate  resumed  the  consideration  of  a  bill 
entitled  “An  act  making  appropriations  for  the 
payment  of  the  revolutionary  and  other  pensioners, 
&c.  The  following  amendment,  proposed  by  Mr. 
Benton,  being  under  consideration,  Sec. — .  And 
be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  bank  note  of  less  de¬ 
nomination  than  twenty  dollars  shall  hereafter  be 
offered  in  payment,  in  any  case  whatsoever,  (ln 
which  money  is  to  be  paid  by  the  United  States’or 
the  Post  Office  Department;  nor  shall  any  bank 
note  of  any  denomination  be  so  offered,  unless  the 
same  shall  be  payable  and  paid  on  demand,  in  gold 
or  silver  coin,  at  the  place  where  issued,  and  which 
shall  not  be  equivalent  to  specie,  at  the  place  where 
offered,  and  convertible  into  gold  or  silver  upon 
the  spot,  at  the  will  of  the  holder,  and  w'ithout  de¬ 
lay  or  lo£s  to  him.” 

This  section  was,  on  the  motion  of  the  Senator 
from  Missouri,  embodied  in  the  act  of  Congress  re¬ 
ferred  to,  and  is  now  the  law  of  the  land,  having 
passed  both  Houses  of  Congress,  and  received  the 
sanction  of  the  President.  This  provision,  it  is 
true,  is  confined  to  payments  by  the  United  States. 
But  if  the  United  States,  under  this  law,  are  to  pay 
out  bank  notes  not  under  twenty  dollars,  how  can 
this  be  done  if  they  are  not  authorized  to  receive 
such  notes?  What  could  be  more  contradictory 
than  a  bill,  the  first  section  of  which  should  author¬ 
ize  notes  not  under  twenty  dollars  to  be  paid  by  the 
United  States,  and  the  second  section  of  tvhich 
should  prohibit  the  United  States  from  receiving  in 
payment  any  thing  but  gold  and  silver?  How  could 
the  United  States,  by  taw,  in  all  time. to  come,  pay 
out  that  which  by  law  they  were  debarred  from  re¬ 
ceiving?  The  Senator  from  Missouri,  then,  has, 
by  law,  connected  the  Federal  Government  with  the 
paper  system.  This  section,  adopted  on  the  mo¬ 
tion  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri,  would  come  in 


very  properly  as  an  additional  clause  in  the  bill  now 
before  us;  but  as  an  additional  proviso  to  the  bill, 
which  shall  be  quoted  hereafter,  proposed  by  that 
Senator,  to  re-establish  a  currency  of  gold  and  sil 
ver  for  the  Federal  Government,  it  would  be  ridi¬ 
culous  and  contradictory. 

Mr.  W.  stated,  the  Senator  from  Missouri  had 
still  further  committed  himself  on  this  subject.  Ke 
had  net  only  directly  countenanced  the  payment  of 
the  federal  revenue  in  bank  notes,  but  had  himself 
proposed,  at  the  last  session,  the  creation  by  Con¬ 
gress  in  this  District  of  new  banks,  authorized  to 
issue  nojes  not  less  than  twenty  dollars.  Mr.  W. 
here  read  from  the  journals  of  the  Senate,  under 
date  of  4th  of  June,  1836,  as  follows: 

“  The  Senate  resumed  the  consideration  of  the 
bill  to  extend  the  -charters  of  certain  banks  in  the 
Disliictof  Columbia.” 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Benton  to  recommit  the  bill 
with  instructions — to  report  separate  bills  for  the 
incorporation  of  new  banks,  with  small  capitals, 
adapted  to  the  capacity  of  the  District  to  sustain 
specie  banks,  and  strictly  limited  to  the  business  of 
the  place;  the  said  incorporations  to  contain  among 
other  provision's  the  following  principles:  4.  The 
banks  to  issue  no  notes  of  less  denomination  than 
twenty  dollars;  end  all  notes  of  less  denomination 
than  twenty  dollars  by  other  banks  to  be  prohibited 
from  circulation  within  the  District.  5.  All  the 
notes  and  paper  currency  issued  by  said  banks  to 
be  paid  in  gold  and  silver;  one-half  of  either  at  the 
opt  ion  of  the  demander,  the  other  half  at  the  option 
of  the  bank.” 

Now,  Mr.  W.  would  ask,  if  Congress  could  by 
law  establish  even  in  this  District  a  certain  number 
of  banks  authorized  to  issue  notes  of  a  certain  de¬ 
nomination,  could  i!  not  exercise  the  smaller  power 
of  authorizing  the  reception  of  bank  notes  in  reve¬ 
nue  payments?  Cut  (Mr.  W.  said)  be  quoted  this 
to  show  that  even  at  this  late  period  the  Senator 
from  Missouri  was  not  prepared  to  do  execution  on 
all  banks  and  all  bank  paper.  There  were  some 
curious  matters  connected  with  these  propositions  of 
the  Senator  from  Missouri.  His  fifth  proposition 
required  “all  notes  and  paper  currency  issued  by 
said  banks  to  be  paid  in  gold  and  silver;  one  half 
of  either  at  the  option  of  the  demander,  the  oilier 
half  at  the  option  of  the  bank;”  and  this  same  pro¬ 
vision  the  honorable  Senator  also  proposed  to  ap-j 
ply  to  “the  depo'site  banks,”  “in  consideration  of; 
being  made  or  continued  depositories  of  the  public 
moneys:”  Sir,  the  honorable  Senator  from  Missou¬ 
ri  would  have  the  banks  pay  in  a  currency  better 
than  that  required  by  the  Constitution.  By  that  in¬ 
strument  gold  or  silver  is  a  legal  tender  inpayment 
of  debts,  and  a  bank  note  is  only  an  evidence  of 
a  debt  due  by  the  bank  to  the  holder  of  the  note; 
but  the  honorable  Senator  would  require  the  banks 
to  pay  their  notes  in  gold  and  silver,  one  half  of | 
each  metal.  When  a  note  of  a  thousand  dollars  j 
shall  be  presented  to  a  bank  for  redemption  in  spe¬ 
cie,  it  is  hoped  the  honorable  Senator  will  net  re¬ 
quire  those  of  less  personal  prowess  tlfim  himself, 
to  carry  away  five  hundred  dollars  in  silver, 
when  the  bank  otherwise  might  pay  the  whole 
amount  in  'gold.  Such  equal  division  of  the 
precious  metals,  however  beautiful  in  theor}',  would 
be  most  inconvenient  in  practice;  and  if  the  hono¬ 


rable  Senator  is  so  equally  attached  to  gold  and 
silver  as  to  be  resolved  on  having  a  precisely  equal 
circulation  of  each,  there  is  one  way  which,  if  it 
were  not  presumptuous,  Mr.  W.  could  recommend 
to  his  serious  consideration.  It  was  this.  That 
Senator  took  great  delight  in  exhibiting  a  new  and 
favorite  coin  of  his  which  he  called  billon'.  Mr. 
W.  hoped  he  pronounced  the  word  correctly;  lie 
was  sure  the  Senator  from  Missouri  did.  This 
coin  was  composed  partly  of  copper,  and  partly  of 
silver,  though  not  precisely  one-half  of  each,  the 
Senator  having  suffered  great  injustice  done  to  the 
silver,  by  permiiting  a  great  preponderance  of  cop¬ 
per,  a  very  inferior  metal,  not  recognised  by  the 
Constitution  as  a  tender.  Now’,  Mr.  W.  would 
suggest,  that  if  the  Senator  from  Missouri  would 
have  coined  a  new  species  of  billon,  composed  ot 
gold  and  silver,  precisely  one-half  of  each  in  value, 
would  it  not  answer  his  purpose?  Mr.  W.  would 
not  warrant  that  it  would  answer,  but  would  only 
suggest  it  to  the  consideration  of  the  Senator  from 
Missouri,  as  a  substitute  for  his  proposed  entire  equa¬ 
lization  of  the  circulation  of  gold  and  silver,  by  com¬ 
pelling  the  banks  to  redeem  their  notes  in  one-half  of 
eaeh metal,  especially  as  these  banks  might  not  find  it 
very  convenient  to  comply  with  these  requisitions, 
and  as  a  greater  quantity  of  one  metal  than  of  the 
other  might  find  its  way,  from  time  to  time,  out  of 
the  country,  and  thus  destroy  this  metallic  equili¬ 
brium  of  the  honorable  Senator. 

Thus  far  die  Senator  from  Missouri  seemed  to 
have  confined  his  view^s  to  the  exclusion  of  notes 
under  twenty  dollars  in  revenue  payments.  But 
on  the  tenth  of  June  last,  he  changed  his  position, 
and  introduced  into  the  Senate  the  following  bill: 

A  BILL  to  re-establish  the  currency  of  the  Consti¬ 
tution  for  the  Federal  Government. 

Be  io  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  ,cf  Represen¬ 
tatives  efthe  United  Stales  of  America  in  Congress  as¬ 
sembled,  That  bank  notes  and  paper  currency  of 
every  description  shall  cease  to  be  received  or  offer¬ 
ed  in  payment,  on  account  of  the  United  States, 
or  of  the  Post  Office,  or  in  fees  in  the  courts 
of  the  Uniied  States,  as  follows:  of  less  denomina¬ 
tion  than  twenty  dollars,  none  after  the  3d  day  of 
I  March.  1837;  of  less  denomination  than  fifty  dollars, 

|  none  after  the  third  day  of  March  1838;  of  less  deno- 
1  mination  than  one  hundred  dollars,  none  after  the 
3d  day  of  March  1839;  of  less  denomination  than 
five  hundred  dollars,  none  after  the  3d  day  of  March 
1840;  of  less  denomination  than  one  thousand  dol¬ 
lars,  none  after  the  3d  day  of  March  1841;  and 
none  of  any  denomination  from  and  after  the  3d 
day  of  March  1842. 

“Section  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted ,  That  any 
derson  holding  an  appointment  under  the  laws  of 
the  .United  States,  and  any  bank  employed  to  keep 
public  moneys,  which  person  or  bank  shall  neglect, 
evade,  violate,  contravene,  or  in  any  wrny  elude,  or 
attempt  to  elude,  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  be 
guilty  of -an  offence  against  the  laws;  and  the  per¬ 
son  sro  offending  shall  be  liable  to  lie  dismissed  from 
the  service,  and  the  bank  so  offending  shall,  on  sa¬ 
tisfactory  information,  be  discontinued  as  a  deposi¬ 
tory;  of  public  moneys.” 

And  here  Mr.  W.  would  remark,  that  by  this 
bill, N  bank  notes  were  permitted  to  be  received  in 
revenue  payments,  until  the  third  of  March,  1842. 


9 


If  then,  the  argues?  of  the  Senator  from  Mis¬ 
souri  be  correct,  feat  to  aathorize,  by  act  of  Congress , 
the  receipt  of  bank  notes  in  revenue  payments,  be 
a  repeal  of  the  Constitution,  this  bill  of  the  honora¬ 
ble  Senator  should  have  been  entitled  a  repeal  of 
the  Constitution  until  the  3d  of  March.  1842.  The 
provisions  of  this  bill  were  somewhat  remarkable. 
All  bank  notes  under  twenty  dollars  were  immedi¬ 
ately  excluded — the  twenty  dollar  notes  being  the 
next  greatest  violators  of  the  Constitution,  were  ex¬ 
ecuted  in  March,  1837;  those  of  fifty  dollars  in 
March,  1838;  those  of  one  thousand  dollars  were 
reprieved  till  March,  1841;  and  in  Mar  h,  1842, 
execution  was  done  on  all  “bank  notes  and  paper 
currency  of  every  description/’  and  “the  currency 
of  the  Constitution”  was  re-established.  Now  how 
was  this  prodigious  revolution  to  be  effected?  Why, 
by  dismissing  from  office  any  officer  of  the  Govern¬ 
ment  who  should  receive  or  offer  in  payment  any 
thing  but  gold  and  silver,  by  which  all  were  to  be, 
excluded  -but  converts  to  the  metallic  currency  of  i 
the  honorable  Senator,  and  by  discontinuing  as  a 
depository  of  the  public  moneys,  any  bank  which 
should  -commit  a  similar  offence.  Now  does  any 
Senator  believe,  that  any  bank  would  accept  the 
deposites  on  such  terms?  That  it  must  pay  out  the- 
public  moneys  in  nothing  but  gold  and  silver,  and 
transfer  the  precious  metals  from  place  to  place,  j 
thousands  of  miles,  at  the  will  of  the  Government. 
Recollect,  that  not  only  “bank  notes,”  but  also  “pa¬ 
per  currency  of  every  description ”  is  excluded  by! 
this  bill,  and  consequently  bank  drafts  would  be 1 
as  effectually  refused  by  this  bill  as  bank  notes,  j 
Indeed  the  authority  to  receive  “funds”  eastern  or 
western,  from  any  bank,  constitutes  one  of  the 
Senator’s  objections  to  the  bill  of  the  com-j 
mittee.  Let  us  suppose  then  that  the  Go-[ 
vernment  has  two  millions  in  silver  at  NatchesJ 
which  it  desires  at  four  different  points,  each 
one  thousand  miles  distant.  Will  it  transport1 
these  wagon  loads  of  silver  from  point  to  point,; 

where  the  money  is  wanted  by  the.  Government _ for 

recollect  the  Government  must  have  the  hard  mo-  j 
ney,  for  it  is  to  pay  out,  as  well  as  receive,  nothing  j 
but  this  ?  Is  this  practicable,  or  is  there  a  bank  in ! 
the  Union  that  would  accept  the  deposites  on  such  j 
terms  as  these  ?  The  banks  are  to  be  continued  by  i 
this  bill  as  depositories  of  the  public  moneys,  as 1 
the  fiscal  agents  of  the  Government,  arid  yet  we  * 
are  to  reject  the  paper  of  our  own  agents.  The ' 
amount  ol  the  public  revenue  of  last  year  was 
forty-seven  millions  of  dollars.  Now  all  this  we 
are  to  entrust  to  the  custody  of  the  banks  :  we  are 
to  trust  them  to  the  amount  of  forty-seven  million 
of  dollars,  and  yet  refuse  to  receive  an v  portion  of 
their  paper,  or,  in  other  words,  trust  them  for  forty- 
seven  million  of  dollars,  and  refuse  them  credit  even 
for  a  twenty  dollar  note.  We  are  first  asked  to  em¬ 
ploy  the  banks  as  fiscal  agents,  and  then  set  about 
the  work  of  their  destruction.  Sir,  the  passage  of; 
this  bill  would  ensure  the  abandoment  of  the i 
deposite  bank  system,  and  as  fiscal  agents  ice  must  | 
have,  it  would  ensure  the  re-establishment  of  a  Bank! 
of  the  United  States,  with  ail  its  oppressive  powers. ' 
And  here  let  me  ask,  can  any  thing  be  more  in¬ 
consistent,  as  well  as  impracticable,  than  to  employ 
the  Slate  banks  as  fiscal  agents,  as  depositories  of 


the  public  moneys,  and  yet  reject  their  papeU  If 
it  be  unconstitutional  to' receive  one  dollar  ot  the 
public dues  in  the  paper  of  any  bank,  is  it  not 
equally  unconstitutional  to  make  these  unconstitu¬ 
tional  banks,  issuing  this  unconstitutional  currency, 
our  fiscal  agents  for  the  whole  amount  of  our  reve¬ 
nue,  by  bank  credits?  Under  our  deposite  bill, 
when  we  confide  money  to  a  deposite  bank,  have 
we  not  previously  taken  its  bond  to  repay?  And  if 
we  take  its  bond,  why  not  its  paper?  Sir,  to  carry 
out  the  gentleman’s  doctrine,  he  should  discard  the 
deposite  banks  as  fiscal  agents,  and  employ  hun¬ 
dreds  of  separate  individual  agents,  constantly  tra¬ 
versing  the  country  in  ail  directions,  with  mules  or 
wagons  loaded  with  gold  and  silver.  Such  a'  sys¬ 
tem,  and  to  this  i  would  come,  would  require  an 
army  of  agents  greater  than  our  whole  standing  ar¬ 
my,  receive,  transfer,  and  disburse,  the  forty- 
seven  millions  of  gold  and  silver,  the  amount  of 
this  year’s  federal  revenue.  Such  a  system  would 
enlarge  the  patronage  and  power  of  the  General 
Government  to  an  almost  unlimited  extent,  and,  if 
successful,  paralyze  the  State  Governments  by  ti\e 
destruction  of  State  banks,  State  credit,  and  State 
institutions.  But  the  whole  system  is  impracticable, 
and  it  is  time  that  the  country  should  know  that 
such  is  the  opinion  of  the  whole  Senate,  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri 
himself.  Sir,  that  Senator  may  rally  three  or  four 
votes  against  the  bill  of  the  committee,  but  it  will 
be  from  objections  to  the  details  of  the  measure,  and 
not  because  they  adopt  the  opinions  of  the  Senator 
from  Missouri  on  this  subject.  If  the  Constitution 
is  repealed  by  the  reception  of  bank  notes  in  re¬ 
venue  payments,  why  did  the  Senator  from  Mis¬ 
souri  never  come  to  the  rescue  till  the  10th  of  .Tune, 
1836,  and  why  did  he  then  permit  the  session  to 
pass  by  without  any  vote  upon  the  measure,  and 
why  has  he  not  reintroduced  it  at  this  session.  The 
fact  is,  and  the  country  should  know  it,  that  the 
Senator  from  Missouri  can  get  no  vote  for  this  bill 
of  his,  except  his  own.  Now,  at  this  moment,  he 
may  bring  it  forward,  or  at  any  period  of  the  ses¬ 
sion:  we  are  anxious  he  should  do  so;  and  all  we 
ask  is  a  vote  by  ayes  /  and  noes,  to  show  the 
American  people  that  the  Senator  from  Mis¬ 
souri  stands  alone  on  this  subject.  Now 
the  measure  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri  is 
not  only  impracticable,  but  defeats  the  great 
object  of  suppressing  the,  small  note  currency, 
and  enlarging  the  circulation  of  gold  and  silver. 
The  Federal  Government,  aided  by  its  revenue,  by 
the  depositories  of  its  money,  and  by  State  legisla¬ 
tion,  might  gradually  suppress  all  banknotes  under 
twenty  dollars,  and  gold  and  silver  would  then  ne- 
cesarily  fill  the  vacuum,  and  constitute  the  com¬ 
mon  currenc)r  of  the  country  in  the  ordinary  trans¬ 
actions  between  the  dealer  and  consumer.  This 
would  disarm  the  State  banks  of  nearly  all  power 
to  do  evil,  arrest  excessive  issues  of  bank  pa¬ 
per,  substitute  gold  and  silver-  for  all  that  great 
portion  of  the  circulation  of  banks  which  con¬ 
sists  of  notes  under  twenty  dollars,  render  and 
preserve  the  banks  sound  and  solvent,  our 
currency  stable,  and  put  an  end  to  all  appre¬ 
hension  of  that  explosion  of  the  paper  system  with 
which  many  bfelieve  we  are  now  threatened.  This 


id 


was  a  practical  reform  of  the  currency,  and  one 
which  (Mr.  W.  said)  he  was  deeply  solicitous  to 
see  effected;  but  it  can  only  be  effected  by  the  co¬ 
operation  with  Congress  of  the  State  Legislatures. 
The  reform,  too,  must  be  by  gradual  and  successive 
steps.  Therefore  the  bill  only  proposed  the  refusal 
of  the  five  dollar  notes  after  the  30th  December, 
1839,  and  the  refusal  of  the  ten  dollar  notes  after 
the  30th  December,  1841,  periods  when  Congress 
will  be  in  session;  and  if  the  States  will  not  then 
co-operate  with  us  in  this  reform,  we  must,  as  the 
representatives  of  their  wishes,  repeal  or  modify 
the  measure. 

But  will  the  measure  of  the  Senator  from  Mis¬ 
souri  effect  any  useful  purpose?  It  holds  out  to 
the  State  banks  no  inducements  to  suppress  their 
small  note  currency.  It  is  a  declaration  of  war 
by  this  Government  against  the  people  of  the 
States,  and  the  banks  of  the  States.  It  demands 
that,  out  of  a  gold  and  silver  currency  in  circulation, 
of  twenty-eight  millions,  (as  estimated  by  the  Se¬ 
cretary  of  the  Treasury,)  we  should  pay  in  this 
currency  a  revenue  of  forty-seven  millions,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  receipts  of  this  year.  It  demands,  then, 
an  impossibility,  unless  an  explosion  of  the  State 
banks  is  created  by  draining  them  of  their  specie. 
It  demands  that  this  gold  and  silver  be,  at  all  the 
various  points  of  collection  or  payment,  at  all 
times,  in  sufficient  quantities  to  make  these  reve¬ 
nue  payments  and  disbursements  also.  It  would 
withdraw  gold  and  silver  from  general  circulation, 
and  confine  its  use  almost  wholly  to  revenue  pay¬ 
ments' and.  disbursements.  It  is,  finally,  an  effort 
on  the  part  *?f  this  Government  to  render  all  the 
notes  of  all  the  State  banks  uncurrent  within  the 
limits  of  the  States,  and  is  equivalent  to  a  demand 
made  by  Congress  upon  the  State  banks  to  surren¬ 
der  their' charters,  or  upon  the  State  Legislatures  to 
repeal  them;  and  Mr.  W.  said  he  had  never  been 
authorized  by  the  State  of  Mississippi  to  demand, 
in  their  name,  a  repeal  or  overthrow  of  any  of 
their  State  institutions.  To  the  extent  that  he  was 
now  willing  to  go,  Mr.  W.  said  he  had  distinctly 
expressed  himself  in  an  address  preceding  his  elec¬ 
tion,  in  favor  of  the  abandonment  of  the  small  note 
currency — in  favor  of  receiving  the  notes  “for 
larger  amounts”  “  of  the  solvent  State  banks,”  for 
“  all  dues  to  the  National  Government” — in  favor 
of  the  enlargement  of  the  circulation  of  gold  and 
silver,  and  against  “  an  exclusively  metallic  curren¬ 
cy.”  Mr.  W.  said,  having  been  elected  with  the 
open  avowal  of  these  doctrines,  he  hoped  he  stood 
not  only  upon  the  basis  of  his  own  previously  ex¬ 
pressed  views,  but  also  upon  those  of  his  consti¬ 
tuents,  in  supporting  the  present  bill,  and  opposing 
that  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri. 

It  remains  now  to  be  shown  (said  Mr.  W.)  that 
this  bill  is  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  policy  and 
recommendation  of  the  President,  and  is  similar  to 
other  measures  which  have  received  his  sanction. 
In  the  message  of  December,  1834,  the  President 
declared  as  follows: 

“  The  State  banks  are  found  fully  adequate  to 
the  performance  of  all  services  which  were  required 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  quite  as  promptly, 
and  with  the  same  cheapness. 

“  The  attention  of  Congress  is  earnestly  invited 
U)  the  regulation  of  the  deposites  in  the  State  banks 


by  law.  Although  the  power  now  exercised  by  the 
Executive  Department  in  this  behalf  is  only  such 
as  was  uniformly  exerted  through  every  administra¬ 
tion,  from  the  origin  of  the  Government  up  to  the 
establishment  of  the  present  bank,  yet  it  is  one 
which  is  susceptible  of  regulation  by  law,*  and 
therefore,  ought  so  to  be  regulated.  Those  insti¬ 
tutions  have  already  shown  themselves  competent 
to  purchase  and  furnish  domestic  exchange  for  the 
convenience  of  trade,  at  reasonable  rates;  and  no 
doubt  is  entertained  that  in  a  short  period  all  the 
wants  of  the  country  in  bank  accommodations  and 
exchange  will  be  supplied  as  promptly  and  as 
cheaply  as  they  have  heretofore  been  by  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States.  If  the  several  Stales  shall  be 
induced  gradually  to  reform  their  banking  systems, 
and  prohibit  the  issue  of  all  small  notes,  we  shall  in  . 
a  few  years  have  a  currency  as  sound,  and  as  little 
liable  to  fluctuations,  as  any  other  commercial 
country.” 

Here  are  several  facts  and  principles  distinctly 
stated  by  the  President.  First,  that  the  State  banks 
could  perform  all  the  services  required  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States.  Second  that  the  deposites  in 
the  State  banks  should  be  regulated  by  law,  and  as 
little  discretion  as  regards  the  banks  left  with  the 
Executive  as  possible.  Thirdly,  the  recommenda¬ 
tion  to  the  States  of  a  gradual  suppression  of  the  is¬ 
sue  of  small  notes,  and  the  expression  of  the  opi¬ 
nion,  that  with  this  reform  the  State  banks  could  fur¬ 
nish  a  sound  currency.  Now  all  this  is  in  exact 
concurrency  with  the  bill  of  the  committee,  and  di¬ 
rectly  contradictory  of  the  views  of  the  Senator 
from  Missouri.  So  far  from  desiring  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  thq^tate  banks,  the  President  considered  their 
services  indispensable,  as  depositories  of  the  public 
moneys,  and  fiscal  agents.  So  far  from  opposing 
regulations  by  Congress  on  this  subject,  and  restric¬ 
tions  of  executive  power,  the  President  distinctly- 
recommended  it.  So  far  from  desiring  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  an  exclusive  gold  and  silver  currency, 
and  the  exclusion  of  the  notes  of  all  State  banks 
from  revenue  payments,  the  President  desired  only 
the  suppression  of  small  notes,  and  expressed  the 
opinion  that  with  this  reform,  the  State  banks 
could  furnish  a  sound  currency,'  and  of  course  safely 
and  properly  receivable  in  revenue  payments. 

Again,  in  the  message  of  December,  1835,  the 
President  declared  as  follows: 

“It  has  been  seen  that,  without  the  agency  of  a 
great  moneyed  monopoly,  the  revenue  can  be  col¬ 
lected,  and  conveniently  and  safely  applied  to  all 
the  purposes  of  the  public  expenditure.  It  is  also 
ascertained  that,  instead  of  being  necessarily  made 
to  promote  the  evils  of  an  unchecked  paper  system, 
the  management  of  the  revenue  can  be  made  auxili¬ 
ary  to  the  reform  which  the  Legislatures  of  several 
of  the  States  have  already  commenced  in  regard  to 
the  suppression  of  small  bills,  and  which  has  only  to 
be  fostered  by  proper  regulations  on  the  part  of  Congress 
to  secure  a  practical  return,  to  the  extent  required  for 
the  security  cf  the  currency,  to  Hie  constitutional  me¬ 
dium.  Severed  from  the  Government  as  political 
engines,  and  not  susceptible  of  dangerous  extension 
and  combination,  the  State  banks  will  not  be  tempt¬ 
ed,  nor  wall  they  have  the  power  which  we  have 
seen  exercised,  to  divert  the  public  funds  from  the 
egitimate  purposes  of  the  Government.  The  col- 


11 


lection  and  custody  of  the  revenue  being,  on  the 
contrary,  a  source  of  credit  to  them,  will  increase 
the  security  which  the  States  provide  for  a  faithful 
execution  of  their  trusts,  by  multiplying  the  scruti¬ 
nies  to  which  their  operations  and  accounts  will  be 
subjected.  Thus  disposed,  as  well  from  interest  as 
the. obligations  of  their  charters,  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  such  conditions  as  Congress  may  see  fit  to 
adopt  respecting  the  deposites  in  these  institutions, 
with  a  view  to  the  gradual  disuse  of  the  small  bills , 
will  be  cheerfully  complied  with;  and  that  we  shall 
soon  gain,  in  place  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
a  practical  reform  in  the  whole  paper  system  of  the 
country.  If,  by  this  policy,  we  can  ultimately  wit¬ 
ness  the  suppression  of  all  bank  bills  below  twenty 
dollars,  it  is  apparent  that  gold  and  silver  will  take 
fheir  place,  and  become  the  principal  circulating 
medium  in  the  common  business  of  the  farmers  and 
mechanics  of  the  country.” 

Here  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  the  exclusion  of  the 
,  notes  of  the  State  banks  from  revenue  payments, 
and  the  establishment  of  an  exclusive  metallic 
currency,  were  not  contemplated  by  the  President. 
On  the  contrary,  his  views  were  limited  to  the  gra¬ 
dual  suppression  and  disuse  “of  ail  bank  hills  be¬ 
low  twenty  dollars”  as  the  only  true  practical  reform 
“ ultimately ”  to  be  accomplished.  And  how  did  the 
President  propose  accomplishing  this  reform?  Why 
by  such  regulations  by  Congress  in  the  management 
of  the  revenue  and  custody  of  the  deposites,  as 
would  prove  auxiliary  to  State  legislation  in  effect¬ 
ing  this  object.  Now  is  not  the  bill  of  the  com¬ 
mittee  precisely  in  accordance  with  these  views  of 
the  President?  Does  not  this  bill  propose  such  re¬ 
gulations  being  made  in  the  management  of  the 
revenue,  as  will,  if  aided  by  State  legislation,  sup¬ 
press  the  circulation  of  all  notes  below  twenty  dol¬ 
lars;  and  the  bill  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri  is  in 
direct  opposition  to  this  message;  for  by  the  use  only 
of  gold  and  silver  in  revenue  payments  he  aban¬ 
dons  all  hope  of  so  managing  the  revenue,  as  to 
make  it  available  in  suppressing  the  small  note  cur¬ 
rency.  The  object  of  the  President  is  the  disuse  of 
notes  under  twenty  dollars,  that  of  the  Senator  from 
Missouri  the  disuse  of  every  tiring  but  gold  and 
silver. 

Nor  does  the  Treasury  order  in  any  manner 
contravene  those  principles,  embodied  in  former 
messages.  That  this  order  was  perfectly  legal  and 
constitutional;  that  it  was  in  accordance  with  the 
discretionary  powers  vested  in  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  by  the  joint  resolution  of  1816,  Mr.  W. 
•>aid  he  never  doubted;  that  the  motives  of  the  Pre¬ 
sident  in  issuing  this  order  were  pure  £nd  patriotic 
was  beyond  dispute.  The  measure  was  evidently 
temporary,  designed  to  repress  inordinate  specula¬ 
tions  in  the  public  lands;  and  it  is  expressly  declar¬ 
ed  in  the  President’s  message  to  be  of  little  import¬ 
ance,  “  if  the  lands  were  sold  for  immediate  settle¬ 
ment  and  cultivation.”  That  it  never  was  design¬ 
ed  to  establish  the  principle  of  excluding  bank 
notes  from  revenue  payments,  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that  payments  of  customs  are  received,  as  for¬ 
merly,  in  bank  paper.  There  yet  remains  one 
other  evidence  on  this  subject,  which  is  conclusive. 
The  fifth  section  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  June 
last,  regulating  the  deposites  of  the  public  moneys, 
is  in  these  words: 


“  That  no  bank  shall  be  selected,  or  continued  as 
a  place  of  deposite  of  the  public  money,  which 
shall  not  redeem  its  notes  and  bills,  on  demand,  in 
specie;  nor  shall  any  bank  be  selected  or  continued 
as  aforesaid,  which  shall,  after  the  4th  of  July, 
(1836,)  issue  or  pay  out  any  note  or  bill  of  a  less 
denomination  than  five  dollars;  nor  shall  the  notes  or 
bills  of  any  bank  be  received  in  payment  of  any  debt 
due  to  the  United  States  which  shall ,  after  the  said 
fourth  day  of  July ,  (1836,)  issue  any  note  or  bill  of  a, 
less  •denomination  than  five  dollars .” 

Now  this  act  passed  both  Houses  with  unprece¬ 
dented  unanimity.  In  the  Senate  it  was  passed 
with  but  six  dissenting  votes,  namely:  Benton, 
Black,  Cuthbert,  Grundy,  Walker,  and  Wright, 
not  one  of  whom  opposed  it  on  account  of  the  5th 
section,  but,  as  clearly  stated  at  the  time,  because  ol 
the  distribution  principle  contained  in  the'thirteenth 
section.  So  far  as  the  5th  section  is  concerned  the 
Vote  of  Congress  may  well  be  considered  as  unani¬ 
mous  in  its  favor.  The  President  also,  in  his  last 
message,  in  stating  the  reluctance  with  which  he 
signed  this  bill,  gives  as  the  reason  the  distribution 
principle  of  the  13th  section,  but  he  thus  distinctly 
eulogises  the  provisions  of  this  5th  section  as  fol¬ 
lows:  “In  the  acts  of  several  of  the  States  prohibit- 
ing  the  circulation  of  small  notes  and  the  auxiliary 
enactments  of  Congresss  at  the  last  session,  forbid¬ 
ding  their  reception  in  payment  on  public  account, 
the  true  policy  of  the  country  has  been  advanced,  and  a 
larger  proportion  of  the  precious  metals  infused  in 
to  our  circulation.”  Now  the  only  act  of  the  last 
session  forbidding  the  reception  of  small  notes  on. 
public  account,  is  this  fifth  section  of  this  act  thus 
eulogised  by  the  President  and  approved  by  hhn  on. 
the  23d  of  June  last.  Yet  this  very  section  is  a  re¬ 
peal  of  the  Constitution,  if  the  bill  of  the  committee 
be  thus  truly  designated  by  the  Senator  from  Mis¬ 
souri,  for  both  are  laws,  not  resolutions,  and  both 
forbid  the  reception  of  small  notes  only. 

Let  us  compare  their  provisions  in  this  respect: 


The  fifth  section  of  the  de¬ 
posite  act  declares:  “  Nor 
shall  the  notes  or  "bills  of  any 
bank  be  received  in  payment 
of  any  debt  due  to  the  United 
States  which  shall,  after  the 
said,  fourth  day  of  July,  (1536) 
issue  any  note  or  bill  of  a  lees 
denomination  than  five  dol¬ 
lars.” 


The  bill  of  the  Committee  de¬ 
clares:  “  from  and  after  the 
passage  of  this  act,  the  notes 
of  no  bank  which  shall  issue  or 
circulate  bills  or  notes  of  a  less 
denomination  than  five  dollars, 
eliia.ll  be  received  on  account 
of  the  public  dues;”  extend¬ 
ing  the  prohibition  in  Decem¬ 
ber.  1841,  to  the  notes  of  all 
banks  issuing  bills  or  notes  un¬ 
der  twenty  dollars. 

Where  is  the  distinction  in  principle  as  regards  the 
reception  of  bank  paper  on  public  account  between 
the  two  provisions  ?  and  the  Senator  from  Mis¬ 
souri,  in  thus  denouncing  the  bill  of  the  committee 
as  a  repeal  of  the  Constitution,  denounces  directly 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  Congress,  no 


more  than  a  State  Legislature,  can  make  any 
thing  but  gold  or  silver  a  tender  in  payment  of 
debts  by  one  citizen  to  another ;  but  that  Congress, 
or  a  Stale  Legislature,  or  an  individual,  may 
waive  their  constitutional  rights,  and  receive  bank 


paper  or  drafts  in  payment  of  any  debt,  is  a  princi¬ 
ple  of  universal  adoption  in  theory  and  practice, 
and  never  doubted  by  any  one  until  at  the  present 
session  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri.  The  dis¬ 
tinction  of  the  Senator  in  this  respect  was  as  incom¬ 


prehensible  to  him  (Mr.  W.)  as  he  believed  it  was 
to  every  Senator,  and,  indeed,  was  discernible  duly 


12 


by  the  magnifying  powers  of  a  solar  microscope. 
It  was  a  point-nc-point,  which,  like  the  logarith¬ 
mic  spiral,  or  asymptote  of  the  hyperbolic  curve, 
might  be  forever  approached  without  reaching  ;  an 
infinitesmal,  the  ghost  of  an  idea,  not  only  without 
length,  breadth,  thickness,  shape,  weight,  or  di¬ 
mensions,  but  without  position — a  mere  ima¬ 
ginary  nothing  which  flitted  before  the  bewil¬ 
dered  vision  of  the  honorable  Senator,  when 
traversing,  in  his  fitful  somnambulism,  that  tes- 
selated  pavement  of  gold,  silver,  and  billion , 
which  that  Senator  delighted  to  occupy.  Sir,  the 
Senator  from  Missouri  might  have  heaped  moun¬ 
tain  high  his  piles  of  metal;  he  might  have  swept, 
in  his  quixotic  flight,  over  the  banks  of  the  States, 
putting  to  the  sword  their  officers,  stockholders,  di¬ 
rectory,  and  legislative  bodies  by  which  they  were 
chartered;  he  might,  in  his  reveries,  have  demolish¬ 
ed  their  charters,  and  consumed  their  paper  by  the 
fire  of  his  eloquence;  he  might  have  transacted,  in 
fancy,  with  a  metallic  currency  of  twenty-eight 
millions  in  circulation,  an  actual  annual  business 
of  fifteen  hundred  millions,  and  Mr.  W.  would  not 
have  disturbed  his  beatific  visions,  nor  would  any 
other  Senator — for  they  were  visions  only  that  could 
never  be  realized — but  when,  descending  frem  his 
etherial  flights,  he  seized  upon  the  Committee  on 
Public  Lands  as  criminals,  arraigned  them  as  vio¬ 
lators  of  the  Constitution,  and  prayed  Heaven  for 


deliverance  from  them,  Mr.  W.  could  be  silent  no 
longer.  Yes,  even  then  he  would  have  passed 
lightly  over  the  ashes  of  the  theories  of  the  honora¬ 
ble  Senator,  for,  if  he  desired  to  make  assaults  up¬ 
on  any,  it  would  be  upon  the  living,  and  not  the 
dead,  but  that  Senator,  in  the  opening  of  his  (Mr. 
W’s)  address,  had  rejected  the  olive  branch  which, 
upon  the  urgent  solicitation  of  mutual  friends, 
against  his  own  judgment,  he  had  extended  to  the 
honorable  Senator.  The  Senator  from  Missouri 
had  thus,  in  substance,  declared  his  “voice  was 
still  for  war.”  Be  it  so;  but  he  hoped  the  Senate 
would  all  recollect  that  he  (Mr.  W.)  was  not  the 
aggressor;  and  that  whilst  he  trusted  he  never  would 
wantonly  assail  the  feelings  or  reputation  of  any 
Senator,  he  thanked  God  that  he  was  not  so  abject 
or  degraded  as  to  submit,  with  impunity,  to  unpro¬ 
voked  attacks  or  unfounded  accusations  from  any 
quarter.  Could  he  thus  submit,  he  would  be  unfit 
to  represent  the  noble,  generous,  and  gallant  peo¬ 
ple,  whose  rights  and  interests  it  was  his  pride  and 
glory  to  endeavor  to  protect,  whose  honor  and  cha¬ 
racter  were  dearer  to  him  than  life  itself,  and 
should  never  be  tarnished  by  any  act  of  his  as  one 
of  their  humble  representatives  upon  this  floor. 

Note. — This  bill,  thus  denounced  by  the  Senator 
from  Missouri  as  a  repeal  of  llie  Constitution,  has 
since  passed  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  41  to  5,  and 
the  House  of  Representatives,  143  to  59. 


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